“Ilinska & Plakenska Mountains” (2012)

The project was conducted within the small grants program from the overall “Program for recovery of the Balkan Links” which is jointly implemented by the Macedonian Ecological Society and PPNEA (Albania), KORA (Switzerland) and EuroNatur (Germany) with financial support of the MAVA Foundation (Switzerland). The Municipality of Demir Hisar also contributed to the successful realization of the project.

Activities/results:

Initial analysis on potentials of MAP and Mushrooms in the region as well as of the market situation were made and presented to the local collectors, Municipality and the local Public Enterprise Macedonian Forests;

Around 40 local collectors of MAP (Medicinal and Aromatic Plants) and Mushrooms from 6 villages were trained for sustainable collection according to Organic Principles and got information about the existing legislation in the country. At the same time, the participants were informed on possibilities for cultivation of the popular Mountain Tea (Sideritis Scardica) and its market value.

Original, traditional recipes were collected from local people from 13 villages and published in a booklet entitled: “From the Pharmacy of Ilinska-Plakenska Mountain”

People from the region and tourists are informed on the unique values of traditional products originating from the rich Nature.